We live in challenging times.
I write this as we hope to come out of lockdown gradually in July, but with the possibility of a second wave of the pandemic COVID – 19 affecting us all later in the year.
So, this is the new normal – not just a short interruption to business as usual. Many will never return to working full-time from an office, court procedures are being revolutionised online daily, and cash flow with or without government support is an ongoing tension for many.
So how can we help you, our members, get through this?
We have a four way approach:
1. Information
2. Lobbying
3. Referral
4. Media response
For information, we have circulated emails and posted information on the website from the Law Society (which included Government financial assistance), our sponsors Lockton Insurance Brokers and the National Cyber Security Centre and dealt with as many individual enquiries as we are able.
I spoke on a webinar on the 26th June on Support for Sole Practitioners during the COVID-19 crisis, and on the 1st July Brian Boehmer and Mark Rowson of Locktons Insurance Brokers our sponsors spoke on The Impact of COVID -19 on Professional Indemnity Renewals. Both webinars, with the interesting question and answer sessions that followed are on our website for members to watch at your convenience.
On Lobbying, our resident Oracle Clive Sutton the Honorary Secretary has worked indefatigably on your behalf particularly through the Law Society on the gaps in Government support as set out in his report, and we thank him for the huge amount of time he has invested on your behalf.
And we continually refer members individually or through the information on the website to those who can best help them in specialist enquiries, be that for insurance quotes, mental health challenges, or cashflow crises.
I was also concerned that the public image of the sole practitioner should be one of solid reliability for our clients and contacts, so in responding to media enquiries we have emphasised the flexibility of our small practices and the fact that for most of us working from home is simply an extension of normal procedure, so clients need not be concerned about our reliability.
Of course for some of you this has been a time without clients or cash flow and I hope that for most the government schemes have helped you to manage your businesses into survival mode. For others (for example myself as a family lawyer) we faced a sudden barrage of procedural changes requiring input in technology and therefore training and expenditure at a time of challenging cash flow and changes in how we are able to operate our offices and staff attendance. Still others faced the challenge of being required to isolate themselves due to underlying conditions while carrying on a business online.
As we come out of lockdown, and conveyancing and most other legal disciplines open up once more, I hope that you will all be able to face the new challenges ahead of us.
My own situation was complicated by a diagnosis of breast cancer in February and surgery the day after we went into lockdown, and I am most grateful for the help given while I was convalescing by my fellow Officers on the Executive Committee, especially Clive Sutton and Joanna Connolly, and Lubna Shuja Council Member.
But since the last SOLO magazine we have nevertheless been able to implement a change in SSPG administration after Charley Maserati of BYWORD needed to relinquish the contract for health reasons. We are enormously grateful for her help in the past, and on her recommendation we have divided the job into 2 areas, and appointed Anika Holm of AH Business Solutions as our general administrator, and Jennifer Houlihan of Dotted Lines Events as the conference Organiser. Both have faced unexpected events with equanimity and success – Anika dealing with the COVID-19 information and enquiries, and Jennifer negotiating successfully for the return of our deposit on the Malaga conference from the hotel.
And of course by now we would be expecting a report on another successful conference – this time in sunny Spain, but that was not to be. Indeed, conferences of any sort in person may well be difficult for the future while we all abide by regulations national and international to safeguard our health and that of others.
However, that does not mean the Group cannot reach out to members with useful information and discussion. The new normal of Zoom or similar meetings is working increasingly successfully, and we have been delighted with the numbers at our recent webinars.
Watch out for emails informing you of further online webinars coming up from the National Centre for Cyber Security and the Legal Ombudsman in the near future.
I wish you all health and success in the new normal world, and the Solicitors Sole Practitioners Group will be doing all we can to inform and empower you in the future.